Button for adjusting article size

ABSTRACT

Button and slit arrangements for adjusting the size of a cloth article or the like, particularly characterized in that the joined size of the article is made variable by using one or more dismountable/remountable buttons so as to achieve the size corresponding to its use. A plurality of aligned slits are formed on at least one of the joining portions of the article and a dismountable/remountable button is attached through a slit in one portion and through a selected one of the slits in the other portion to make variable the joined size of the joining portions, thereby desirably determining the size of a garment, a tent, a construction sheet, a cover for cars, etc., which is regarded as an article.

This application is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 08/113,834,filed Aug. 30, 1993, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 08/114,328, filed Aug. 30, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No.5,426,828.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods of adjusting article size andto the article and, more particularly, relates to a novel improvement inadjusting the size according to its use by usingdismountable/remountable buttons and slits to make variable the joinedsize of the joined portions thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, though not shown, joining of ordinary articles at thejoining portions of a shirt, a suit, trousers or the like is effectedsuch that a button fixed by means of a thread on one of the joiningportions is joined with a slit on the other joining portion. Further,covers for a car, tents, sheets to be used in construction work,tablecloth, etc., respectively regarded as articles have been assortedby their size and products in various sizes have been made available.

Since the conventional articles are constructed as described, there havebeen the following problems.

Specifically, finished products by various sizes have been made in thecase of an article of clothing such as a suit, a shirt, trousers, whereall the buttons are fixed by means of threads and assortments of color,design and size have been made. For this reason, a very large number ofitems must be maintained as an inventory. Only a limited number of theitems are actually sold and a large number of items remain as an unsoldinventory.

Further, for example, in the case of clothes for infants or toddlers,since an infant or toddler grows fast where his/her clothes become toosmall only after six months or so, a new item of the next size is likelyto be bought. In this cases, too, it is more likely that buttons andholes do not fit each other while the size of the clothes still fits,resulting in a wasteful expense. Furthermore, in the case of an articlesuch as a cover for cars, a tent, a sheet to be used in constructionwork, tablecloth, etc., since they are assorted by size, they must bebought as a new item whenever their size is to be changed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above described problems, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a method of adjusting article size and the articlein which the size of the article is changed by usingdismountable/remountable buttons and slits to make variable a joinedsize of joining portions thereof.

Accordingly, a method of adjusting article size is provided inaccordance with the present invention, in which a slit is formed on atleast one of joining portions that are counterparts to each other and adismountable/remountable button is attached through this slit to makevariable the joined size of the joining portions.

In one aspect of this method, said slit is made on each of the joiningportions.

In another aspect, said joining portions constitute a part of a garment.

In the method of adjusting article size according to the presentinvention, a slit is formed on a first tongue portion which is formed onone of the joining portions of the collar of a shirt and adismountable/remountable button is provided on a second tongue portionon the other joining portion to make variable the joined size of thejoining portions.

In the article size adjusting method according to the present invention,a first tongue is formed on one of joining portions of trousersconstituting an article and a slit is formed on the other joiningportion of the trousers, and a dismountable/remountable button isprovided on the first tongue to make variable the joined size of thejoining portions.

In the article size adjusting method according to the present invention,a slit is formed on one of joining portions of a sleeve constituting anarticle and a dismountable/remountable button is provided on the otherjoining portion of said sleeve, to make variable the joined size of saidjoining portions.

An article according to the present invention comprises: a slit formedon any of joining portions that are counterparts to each other; adismountable/remountable button provided on any of said joiningportions; and said button comprises a pin screw having a button headportion and a pin portion and a nut threaded onto said pin screw.

In an article according to the present invention, said slit may beformed on each of said joining portions.

In particular, said joining portions may be a part of a garment.

In particular, said joining portions may be a part of a cover for cars.

In particular, said joining portions may be a part of a tent.

In particular, said joining portions may be a part of a sheet to be usedin construction work.

In particular, said joining portions may be a part of a tablecloth.

In the article size adjusting method and the article according to thepresent invention, a slit is formed on one joining portion of thejoining portions that are counterparts to each other and adismountable/remountable button is provided on the other joiningportion, and the position of this button may be changed at will to makevariable the size between the joining portions.

Further, in the case where a slit is formed on each of the joiningportions, the joining portions may be arranged in a manner of the leftside under the right or the right side under the left, where, bymounting a dismountable/remountable button in accordance with sucharrangement, the joining portions may serve as a part of for exampleboth a garment for men and a garment for women.

Furthermore, the size may be made variable in a similar manner asdescribed with respect to a portion of trousers or a sleeve. Moreover, acover for cars, a tent, a sheet to be used in construction work, atablecloth, etc., may be made into a desired size by mounting a buttonin a dismountable/remountable manner to a desired joining portionthereof,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the construction of a garment as an article according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the construction of trousers as an article.

FIG. 3 shows the construction of a sleeve portion as an article.

FIG. 4 shows the construction of a sleeve portion as an article.

FIG. 5 shows the construction of a sheet as an article.

FIG. 6 shows the construction of another embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows the closed state of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows the construction of another embodiment

FIG. 9 shows the closed state of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a garment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a collar to be attached to thegarment of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an exploded view showing a button for a garment according tothe present invention.

FIG. 13 is an exploded view showing another embodiment different fromFIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an exploded view showing another embodiment different fromFIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is an exploded view showing another embodiment different fromFIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is an exploded view showing another embodiment different fromFIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A description will now be Given by way of the accompanying drawings withrespect to the method of adjusting article size and some preferredembodiments of the article according to the present invention.

Embodiment 1

Referring to FIG. 1, denoted by numeral 30 is an upper Garment such as ajacket of a suit or a shirt which constitutes an article. A first tongueportion 32A and a second tongue portion 33A are formed integrally with afirst joining portion 36a and a second joining portion 37a,respectively, of a pair of collar portions 32, 33 of the upper Garment30, the tongue portions 32A, 33A having slits 38, 39, respectively,thereon. Further, a first joining portion 36a and a second joiningportion 37a of front vertical portions 36, 37 have stitched slits 38,39, respectively, formed thereon.

Accordingly, in the construction of FIG. 1, the upper garment 30 for menmay be obtained by mounting a dismountable/remountable button 20 to bedescribed later on the first tongue portion 32A of the tongue portions32A, 33A and by mounting buttons 20 on the first joining portion 36a.Further, the upper garment 30 for women may be obtained by attachingthem oppositely. Furthermore, since the button 20 isdismountable/remountable as will be described, the joined size of thejoining portions 36a, 37a may be made variable at will by desirablychoosing the mounting position of the button 20 to be mounted on one ofthe joining portions 36a or 37a and on one of the tongue portions 32A or33A by attaching this button to one of the slits 38, 39. Moreover, byproviding a plurality of slits 38, 39 at desired positions, the size ofeach attaching portion 36a, 37a may be changed.

Embodiment 2

Referring to FIG. 2, numeral 40 denotes trousers which constitute anarticle. A fastener 41, 42 is provided on first and second joiningportions 36a, 37a of the trousers 40. A dismountable/remountable button20 to be described later is mounted in the slit 44 on a tongue portion43 formed on the first joining portion 36a.

A plurality of slits 38 are formed in the circumferential direction onthe second Joining portion 37a and the button 20 may be attached to acorresponding slit 38 in accordance with its mounted position, to adjustat will the size around the waist of the trousers. It should be notedthat, while the overlapping portion of the fastener 41, 42 must beenlarged, it is also possible to provide a plurality of fasteners 41, 42so as to use them according to the size.

Embodiment 3

Slits 38, 39 are longitudinally formed on joining portions 36a, 37a of asleeve 50 of an upper garment or a shirt or the like constituting anarticle as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the position of a button 20 maybe moved along the slit or the plurality of slits 38, 39 to adjust theposition of the button.

Further a double sleeve 55 is provided in the construction of FIG. 4,and the length thereof may be adjusted.

A description will now be given with respect to the cases of indoor andoutdoor tents, a cover for cars, a tablecloth, a sheet to be used inconstruction work, a cover for machinery, etc., which forms an articleas shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, denoted by numeral 30 is a sheet of an indoor oroutdoor tent, a cover for cars, a tablecloth, a cover for constructionwork, a cover for machinery or the like which constitutes an article.Slits 38, 39 are formed on a pair of first joining portion 36a and asecond joining portion 37a of the sheet 30 and are stitched by means ofthread.

Accordingly, the joining portions 36a, 37a in the construction of FIG. 5are joined with each other by mounting a button 20 which will bedescribed later. The joined size of the joining portions 36a, 37a may bemade variable at will by attaching the button 20 to one of the slits 38,39. That is, the above described joining portions 36a, 37a are providedat a portion of a tent, a cover for cars, a tablecloth, a constructionsheet or the like, to make changeable the area or volume thereof as awhole, thereby making possible to desirably change its size.

Further, slits 38, 39 are formed on the both sides of a fastener portion61 of a fastener 60 provided as shown in FIG. 6 for example on a garmentand slits 38, 39 are joined with each other as shown in FIG. 7 by meansof buttons 20. In this manner it is possible to provide joining of ajumper, trousers, a sweater or the like when the fastener 60 fails tofunction and to make an adjustment for reducing the size thereof.Further, by putting a button 20 through slits 38, 39 at desiredpositions formed on the two sides of a strip 70 to be used in a garmentor the like as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the length of the strip 70 may bechanged at will. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of slits38 are formed on a stand collar 80 of an upper garment 30 and a collar90 having slits 39 is provided in a dismountable/remountable manner onthe stand collar 80 by means of buttons 20, thereby change for a newarticle and a change in size may be achieved by changing the collar 90.

FIGS. 12˜16 show the construction of the above described button 20.

Referring to FIG. 12, denoted by numeral 1 is a button head portionhaving an internal gap and being integrally formed by means of caulkingor the like. A flange 11 having a pin screw 10 integrally formed thereonis Joined with and connected integrally to a concave portion 1b formedon the bottom portion 1a of the button head portion 1 (since FIG. 6 isan exploded view, they are shown in separated manner).

The above screw pin 10 is constructed by forming a screw portion 10a anda pin portion 10b integrally with each other and a nut 12 is threadedonto the pin screw 10 through a threaded hole 12a.

Thus, when the button 20 according to the construction of FIG. 12 asdescribed is to be made, the flange 1 is integrally joined with thebutton head portion 1 by means of such joining means as welding, bondingor soldering and it is completed by threading the nut 12 onto the pinscrew 10.

Further, when the button 20 according to the construction of FIG. 12 asdescribed is actually mounted on a garment 4, mounting is completed suchthat the pin screw 10 is put into the garment 4 and the nut 12 isthreaded onto the screw portion 10a extended from the garment 4 which isregarded as an article.

It should be noted that, by desirably changing diameter and thickness ofthe flange 11, a clearance may be set between the button head 1 and thegarment 4 as the article.

In the case of a construction as shown in FIG. 13, it is also possibleto directly connect the pin screw 10 to the button head portion 1without using the flange 11 as described. Accordingly, as is apparentfrom Embodiments 1 and 2, the pin screw 10 and the button head portion 1may be connected to each other with or without the flange 11.

In the case of a construction as shown in FIG. 14, a rise 11a is formedon the outer periphery of the flange 11 and a screw portion 1c of abutton receiver 1B of a button ornamental portion 1A of the abovedescribed button head portion 1 is threaded in adismountable/remountable manner into an inner thread 11b of the rise11a. The button ornamental portion 1A of the button head portion 1 maybe desirably changed on the flange 11.

In the case of a construction as shown in FIG. 15, the button headportion 1 is constructed by the button ornamental portion 1A and thebutton receiver 1B and an outside screw 11A of the flange 11 is threadedonto a threaded portion 1Ba formed on the button receiver 1B. Thus, thebutton ornamental portion 1A may be desirably changed on the flange 11.

In the case of a construction as shown in FIG. 16, in order to makesmaller the through hole at the time of penetrating through the garment4 as the article by making smaller the diameter of the pin screw 10 tobe provided on the flange 11 than that of the above describedconstructions, a plurality of pin screws 10 are provided and a pluralityof nuts 12 are used to mount it on the garment 4 as the article.

It should be noted that the above embodiments have been described astypical examples and, naturally, all the constructions in which thebutton head portion 1 and the pin screw 10 are connected to each otherand are fixed by means of the nut 12 are included in the scope of thepresent invention. Further, though not shown, the above described buttonhead portion 1 may: have an internal scenting portion for providing ascent; be internally provided with an aluminum ball serving as a bell;or be internally provided with an LED serving as a light emittingportion.

Since the article size adjusting method and the article according to thepresent invention are constructed as has been described, the followingadvantages may be obtained.

That is, since a slit is formed and a dismountable/remountable button isprovided on the joining portions of a jacket or a shirt or the like asan article, the joined size thereof may be desirably adjusted and theirsetting for men or women may be achieved at will by providing them oneach of the joining portions, and it is possible to provide clothes fora user, without maintaining a huge inventory which has conventionallybeen necessary. Further, in the case of sleeves, the lengths thereof mayadjusted at will, whereby sizes of the assortment equivalent to those ofthe conventional inventory may be achieved by a smaller number of sizesthan the conventional case.

Furthermore, since the buttons may be mounted on and dismounted from agarment without using thread, the mounting of buttons is greatlyfacilitated.

Moreover, since the buttons may be easily mounted and dismounted, it ispossible to bring clothes without their buttons to the cleaners wherebydamage to the buttons may be completely avoided. Further, in the casewhere the present invention is applied to various tents, a cover forcars, a tablecloth, a sheet to be used in construction work, etc., thesize thereof may be desirably adjusted.

Further, since it is possible to change only the button ornamentalportion, restoring of buttons on the clothes as new ones may be effectedeasily and at a low cost when their surfaces become degraded due to age.

Further, since such buttons may be easily mounted and dismounted, it isnot necessary to keep a large inventory of various types such as ofclothes, shirts, various types of covers the tents, and mounting ofbuttons or the setting of a size may be effected according to eachcustomer's preference, whereby the inventory or the like may be greatlyreduced.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cloth article or the like having overlappingportions sizably adjustable with respect to each other by a buttonassembly detachably secured therethrough, a first of said overlappingportions having means defining at least one slit therethrough, and asecond of said overlapping portions having means defining a plurality ofaligned and spaced apart slits therethrough, said button assembly beingdetachably secured through one of said slits of said first overlappingportion and through any selected one of said aligned slits of saidsecond overlapping portion, said cloth article being adjustable in sizewithout distortion thereof by detaching said button assembly from saidselected one of said aligned slits of said second overlapping portionand detachably securing said button assembly through any other selectedone of said aligned slits of said second overlapping portion, and saidbutton assembly comprising a button carrier element having an uppersidesurface, an underside surface, and a circular screw thread extendingperpendicular to its said upperside and underside surfaces; a buttonhead secured to said upperside surface of said button carrier element; aflange element having an upperside surface, an underside surface and acircular screw thread extending perpendicularly to its said uppersideand underside surfaces and threadedly connected to said screw thread onsaid button carrier element; at least one pin secured to and projectingperpendicularly from said underside surface of the flange element andextending through said one slit of the first overlapping portion andthrough said one selected slit of the second overlapping portion; and anut separably mounted on each said pin at a location therealong, wherebysaid overlapping portions of said cloth article are detachably securedto each other by said button assembly.
 2. A cloth article according toclaim 1, wherein said slit defining means of said first overlappingportion defines a plurality of aligned and spaced apart slitstherethrough, each of said plurality of slits through said firstoverlapping portion respectively overlying a respective one of saidplurality of slits through said second overlapping portion, said secondoverlapping portion having at least as many slits as said firstoverlapping portion, and said overlapping portions being detachablysecured to each other by a plurality of said button assemblies, each ofsaid button assemblies being detachably secured respectively through oneof said overlapping slits of said first and second overlapping portions.3. A cloth article according to claim 2, wherein each of said clotharticle overlapping portions has an edge, said alignment of saidplurality of slits in each said overlapping portion being in a directionparallel to its said edge, and each said slit of each said overlappingportion being elongated in a direction parallel to its said edge.
 4. Acloth article according to claim 3, wherein said edge of each saidoverlapping portion is adjacently aligned with said edge of the other,and said plurality of button assemblies substantially corresponds innumber to, and pass through the respective of said plurality ofoverlying slits, and which further comprises a releasable fastenerattached to and between said aligned edges and releasably securing themtogether, said secured first and second overlapping portions projectingsubstantially perpendicularly outward from said cloth article andthereby reducing the size of said cloth article.
 5. A cloth articleaccording to claim 1, wherein said slit defining means of said firstoverlapping portion defines a plurality of aligned and spaced apartslits therethrough, said second overlapping portion having at least asmany slits as said first overlapping portion.
 6. A cloth articleaccording to claim 5, wherein said cloth article is a strip of clothhaving opposite ends, and said first and second overlapping portions ofsaid cloth article are respective portions of said strip eachsubstantially adjacent to one of said opposite ends thereof.